Toggle mechanism



Feb. 6, 1945. FERRET I 2,368,775

TOGGLE MECHANISM Filed Oct. 1, 1942 fiiveni'au fYfA/R/ FERRET PatentedFeb. 6, 1945 Henri Perret Zug Switzerland, assignor'toLandis' & Gym. A.G., a corporation of Switzerland Application October-1, 1942,Serial'N-o. 460,360

1 In Switzerland November. 8-,. 1.9.4.1

5 Claims. (0114-581 This invention relates to toggle mechanism and tosuch mechanism particularly adaptable. to use with. electric switchesand. the like.

Toggle mechanism is in general use in techmics and frequently servethe.purpose of obtaining a. sudden motion, with the. depression of thetoggle mechanism a. stored energy is instantaneously released, To thiseffect such mechanism is. for instance applied. in electrotechnics,where it proves, highlyadvantageous in the building of circuit-breakers,e. g. the free tripping of self-actingv installation switches.

In practice this mechanism consists of two. lever pieces hingedtogether: and. an adjustable arresting device which permit: depression,of the.

lever pieces; slightly beyond the dead point position and frequently ofa weak spring facilitating such depression. I-Iencesuch toggle.leverscomprise several parts, i. e. they cannot be. consid; ered as asimple mechanism, and are. expensive. In. addition, such togglemechanism. can only be operatively connected with. one release torce.which: can only act in one direction-given. by the plane in which'thelever pieces are folding.

The object. of the present invention, is-to pro.-

vide a toggle. mechanism which. is simpler in.

structure and offers more diversity of release.

Of the. drawing; Fig. 1 shows. one form. of spring. suitable for.

use. in the present invention;

Fig. 2. shows the spring. of. Fig. l-in" bent condition;

Fig. 3 shows av second form of sprin Fig. 4 shows a third "exampleoisprin i.

Fig- 5' shows a fourth exam le;

Fig. 6 shows a fifth example;

Fig. 7' shows a sixth example;

Fig. 8' is. a further showing of a toggle spring assembly; and Y Fig. 9shows toggle mechanism of the. present invention adapted to use with anelectric switch".

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1 numeral.

1 designates a helical spring; withdi'rectly adjacent windings. Thespring i'sgcurved on either end to form eyelets 2. These eyelets aresupposed to serve as a connection of the spring with the acting pointsrepresented by the-forces P. Due to its close windings the spring I- isable to stand a heavy pressure in the direction of; these forces. Acomparatively smallrelease force F exerted crosswise to the spring I.about its centre causes, however; the spring, as shown by Fig. 2, tobend or tip, so that the forces P are set free. Upon the disappearing ofthe forces P the inherent force of the coil tends to restore 'th springto its original position.

If. ior constructional. reasons the. plain bearing doesnot. sufiice.as-acting points of the. forces; P in.- y l s h n. as shown by Fi 3,pecial bearing iece 3 may be. Provided. In this case the spring Iitself, ends on eitherside directly onthe coil. The. bearing pieces 3have ahead fitted a. pin hole 4 and athreaded end 5v with-which; theyengagethe: ends. of. the. spring 'I- (Fig. 3-). Thissimple connectionis.- practi cally undetachabla. ecause. the. retrograde turning of;thethreaded. end. is. then. counteracted by the. ensuing contraction of.the spring I; in its. threads. As indicated. the release. force. F canact. from one or the other. side crosswise. to the direction, 01 the,pinholes. 4.

I the, embodiment. shown. in Fi 3. th pin .holes 4- are; in. alignmentwith the. axis of. spring I These. pinholes. 4 may, however, asshown. inFig. 4, also be placed outside the axis line 6, of spring 1, that.v is.to say, preierably in the direction. from which. the release force, Facts. In

the latter instance the release iorceF is decreased; because-the. pring,lgcan be caused more easily to bend than with. the pinholes 4 lyingthe.- axisalignmentyot the spring.

The resistance of the spring I. to bending. can

be varied; bythe last mentioneddisplacement of the acting points. of theforces P as well as by a suitable size of the spring diameter or ananp-ropriato inner pre-tensiomng of the spring. in. it windings, i. e...it canbe adapted eachtime to the respective release force. I

Accordin torthe embodiment as shown in Fig; 5;. the one; i.. e. theupper of. the bearing pieces 3;. which for the rest. are.- builtaccording to Fig. 3;. is fitted with a lateralextensionorproiection "I:-on. whichthe release. forceacts, that is to say.

parallel to the-.foxoes: B; Bya suitable selection or the sizeofv thelever arm. represented by the. distance 01' the: point; on. which 15acts. n the projection 'l .irom; the. pin hole 4,; tms...b6 d1ng momentof spring I can beadantedto the release force;

According to the embodiments: Fig. 6. the bearing pieces; a are securedin pillow cups a: by-

means or Spherical. parts 8.. According to this example the releaseforce I can act. crosswise to the spring I fromanydirection, i. e. thetoggle lever represented byfthea spring t can bebent in any direction.

As shown by Fig; 6, several release forces F- may also act on the springt, each being capable.

of bending it. Suchanarrangement may; for

instance, be advantageously appIied to electric switches;suoh-asinstallation switches, where e g.

in addition to the thermal excess current release a short-circuitrelease or possibly a hand release is present, or on motor protectiveswitches, which, in addition, may possess a zero tension-, faulttensionand remote tripping.

Fig. 7 incorporates a structural modification over the showing of Fig.6, the bearing pieces 3 with tapered ends In being journaled-in conicalrecesses Ii'on thepillow bushes 9, whereby the recesses I I of thetapered ends I allow sufficient clearance for their skew adjustment inthe pillow bushes 9. I

By arranging the spherical or tapered bearing pieces 3 outside the axisof spring I, the release forces F can be variably chosen as to theirmagnitude. Thus, for instance, referring to Fig. 6, as a result of adisplacement of 8 in the direction of therelease force F acting on it,this force decreases, whereas the opposite release force F cation of theinvention in electric switch design.

There the toggle lever is shaped similarly to Fig. 5, a helical'spring Iwith closely-arranged windings being located between bearing pieces 3with pin holes 4. Each bearing piece 3 is provided with a lateralprojection I. On pin hole 4 of the upper bearingxpiece 3 a sliding-plateI2 is pivoted, carrying at its top a push-button I3 extending from thecage I 4 of the switch. I5 is a shaft assumed to be seated on anauxiliary push-button (not shown) to be operated outside the cage I4,this auxiliary push-button being subjected to the influence of 'a springand acting with the shaft I5on the projection I of the upper bearingpiece 3, thus representing a release force F. I By means of the pin holeon the lower bearin' piece 3 the movable contact I! on a spring I6 ofthe switch is connected to the toggle lever spring I, the stationarycontact being designated with IS. The armature I9 of amagnetic coil isoperatively connected to the projection 1 of the lower bearing piece 3.

On the upper part of the switch arrangement a latch is providedcomprising a pawl22 cooperating with a slot 2| in the slide-plate I2 anda lever 23 connected to the said pawl. -The lever 23 lies with its freeend 24 near the upper bearing piece 3 and a. weight 25 tends to keep itbearing against a stop 26. 3

With closed switch-as shown by Fig. 9--the push-button I3 is depressed,the pawl 22 keeps it arrested with the slide-plate l2, the switch I1, I8beingclosed with stretched toggle spring I and under tension of springI5, whereas theparts I5 and I 9 are out of action.

If the auxiliary push-button is now depressed by hand, the shaft I5 actstemporarily on the projection I of the upper bearing piece 3, thuscausing the spring I to bend. Thereby not only an instantaneous openingof the contacts I'I, I8 is effected, but the latching of the slide-plateI2 is also cleared, as the upper bearing piece 3 striking on lever end24 causes the lever 23 to swing out, therebywithdrawing the pawl 22'fromthe slot 2 I. With the liberation of slide-plate I2, the togglelever spring I resumes its stretched position, so thatwith openedcontacts I1, I8 the switch is again ready for the on-position,

If instead of depressing an'auxiliary push-button of I5 a currentimpulse is imparted to the magnetic coil 20, e. g. from a timing work,its armature I9 acts as release force F on the projection I of the lowerbearing piece 3 and the spring I is thus caused to, bend.

The last described form of embodiment is assumed to be applied to apower switch merely with reference to the means producing the cutoff.Instead of a medium acting on the switch arbitrarily or depending ontime, also other media may be applied, as those dependent on alterationsof the conditions of a network or a consumption place, as thermal orshort-circuit-release means.

With the foregoing forms of embodiment it is assumed that the windingsof the helical spring are arranged closely together. However, it wouldlikewise be possible to employ a helical spring withspaced-out'windings, for instance in such a way that by utilizingbearing pieces, parts of these cause the expansion of the acting points,the helical spring then relieved in its windings from these actingpoints, would merely work as the element provoking the bend. Withreference to Fig. 3 this could be efiectuated in such a way that thebearing pieces 3 lateral to spring I are provided with extensionsabutting on their front edges. Thewindings'of the spring I would be thenslightly spaced apart.

The invention can be utilized wherever a toggle mechanism is required,consequently it is by no means confined to electro-technics. Theinvention is of the simpleststructure conceivable as, fundamentally,only one part is necessary and a toggle lever of this kindnot onlyrequires a minimum of space, but is also light in weight, thus ensuringthe shortest possible tripping time, Further, such a contrivance offersthe possibility of a multisided release. v

While I have herein illustrated and described certain preferredembodiments of the present invention, it will be apparent that changesin the construction and operation disclosed may be made withoutdeparting either from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims.

I claim: I

1. Toggle-like connecting means for a pair of movable members'to moveone 'of said members from a starting position toa moved position whenthe other said member is moved comprising, in combination, a connectingelement between said members and engaging'each, said member including aflexible portion having flexed and unflexed positions,' means forholding said first member in moved position after the other said memberhas been moved, said holding means being operable by movement of saidportion to flexed position to free said first member whereby said firstmembermay return to said starting position. I y

2. Toggle-like connecting means for a pair of movable members to moveone of said members from a position of rest to a moved position when theother said member is moved comprising, in combination, a connectingelement between said members and engaging each said member including anelastic portion movablefrom normal to stretched positions, meansengageable with said connecting element for holding saidfirst member in'moved position after the other said member has been movedand means fordisengaging said engaging means when said elastic portion is instretched position whereby said first member may return to apositionofrest. I t i 3. Toggle-like connecting means for a-pair of movablemembers to move one of said members from a position of rest to a movedposition when the other said member is moved comprising, in combination,a connecting element between said members and engaging each said memberincluding a helical spring, the coils of said spring being normally inaxial alignment, means engageable with said connecting element forholding said first member in a moved position after the other saidmember has been moved, means for moving certain of the coils out ofaxial alignment and means for disengaging said engaging means when saidcoils are out of axial alignment.

4. The herein described combined toggle-like 1:

rest to a moved position and including a helical spring portion, pawlmeans engageable with said element in said moved position, and means fordisengaging said pawl means upon transverse displacement of a portion ofsaid springwhereby the element may return to a position of rest.

5. The herein described combined toggle-like connection and latchcomprising, in combination, a connecting element movable from a positionof rest to a moved position and including a helical spring portion, pawlmeans engageable with said element in a moved position to hold saidelement in said moved position, means for transversely displacing aportion of said coiled spring, and means for disengaging said pawl meansupon said displacement of said spring whereby said element may return tothe position of rest.

HENRI FERRET.

